Sunday, February 28, 2010

This is just a quick post on some basic (maybe common) knowledge about the Holga Cable Release. I had an issue with mine, and have heard of a few others having this same problem so I thought I'd just do a quick recap.

How it works is pretty straight forward, but it seems to have an 'auto lock' feature to it so that when you depress the button, it will stick there.

The issue I had with mine, first of all was that the little round portion on the top fell off. I didn't realize it at the time, so when I went to use it, this is what it looked like. It was very uncomfortable on my finger! And I also was a bit confused to what was going on, and thought it was broken or not working correctly.

After some examination, I realized maybe I was missing a part. Later on, luckily I found it on the stairs!

Great! So I put it back together. I still do not like the auto lock feature though (maybe it doesn't do that on all of them, but I've heard of at least a few that auto lock). In order to release the cable, you need to press the circular metal piece that is in the middle.

(please excuse my dry Canadian winterized skin and nails)

It releases a bit harsly for my taste, almost like a jolt. I thought I'd try using a different cable release that I used to use on an old Minolta film camera, which was smoother and didn't stick. Only after I got back my film with a bunch of blank photos did I realize that they are not the same length.

Lesson - if you decide to use a different cable release, make sure the end that you push in and out is the same length as the one specifically made for the Holga.

Here is a comparison, the Holga Cable Release is the one on top:

The rest of it is pretty easy to use. You place the square plastic mount over the lens of the camera, and screw in the cable release. Set your Holga to "B" and you're ready to go.

Now, I'm wondering for all of you out there who have one of these - does yours do the 'auto lock' thing? If so, does it bother you? Has it given any sort of camera shake when it releases?

Please share with me your experiences, thoughts, additional tips, or if you have any questions please post them in the comments!

And don't forget to vote in the poll at the top of the page! Thank you to everyone so far who has voted!!